GIFT  OF 


No.  Rec.135 


"  Price,  5  cents 


Creating  a  Broader  Interest  in  Drama  in  a  Boston  Evening  Center 


THE  SOCIAL  CENTERS  OF  1912-13 

By  Clarence  Arthur  Perry 

/•  i 

The  facts  set  forth  herein  were  gathered  by  means  of  a  post- 
card questionnaire  sent  to  788  superintendents  of  schools.  The 
returns,  when  checked  off  with  the  data  furnished  by  our  clipping 
service  and  other  reports,  were  found  to  represent  practically  all 
of  the  cities  which  had  definite  undertakings  of  a  social  center 
character. 

Of  the  results  secured,  those  which  may  be  compared  with  the 
figures  published  for  the  previous  season  are  as  follows : 

1911-12  1912-13 

Cities  reporting  some  paid  workers 44  *7i 

Cities  in  which  Board  of  Education  pro- 
vided heat,  light  and  janitor  service ....       72  *i26 
Expenditures  reported $139,535  *$324,575 

It  will  be  observed  that  while  the  number  of  cities  reporting 
paid  workers  has  not  quite  doubled,  the  amount  of  the  expendi- 
tures reported  is  nearly  two  and  a  half  times  as  great  as  it  was  in 
1911-12.  That  is,  in  places  where  the  movement  has  got  started 
its  rate  of  growth  is  higher  than  the  rate  at  which  it  spreads  to 

*  In  order  to  make  these  figures  more  justly  comparable  cities  reporting 
only  one  line  of  activity  (see  page  3)  have  been  excluded  in  this  table. 

12-13-25 


V1 


X 


Al •/:>:•••.•:::    :  .-.  "•. 

new  localities".**  It's*  "actual  results  are  more  effective  in  getting 
public  support  than  the  words  of  its  most  enthusiastic  champions. 
The  seventy-one  *cities  which  reported  some  paid  workers  in 
carrying  on  evening  activities  other  than  those  of  the  regular 
night  school  were  as  follows : 


Cities  with      California 
paid  workers      LOS  Angeles 

Santa  Rosa 
Colorado 

Denver 

Pueblo 
Connecticut 

Stamford 

Waterbury 
Illinois 

Chicago 

Evanston,  Dist.  76 

Oak  Park 

Ottawa 

Rockford 
Indiana 

Crawfordsville 

Gary 

Mishawaka 
Iowa 

Burlington 

Des  Moines 

Sioux  City 

Kansas 

Leavenworth 
Kentucky 

Louisville 
Louisiana 

New  Orleans 
Maryland 

Baltimore 


Massachusetts 

Boston 

Cambridge 

Chicopee 

Dedham 

Gardner 

Maiden 

Natick 

Winchester 

Worcester 
Michigan 

Detroit 

Grand  Rapids 

Kalamazoo 

Pontiac 
Minnesota 

Minneapolis 

Red  Wing 

St.  Paul 
New  Jersey 

Bloomfield 

East  Orange 

Elizabeth 

Englewood 

Jersey  City 

Montclair 

New  Brunswick 

Passaic 

Paterson 

Trenton 


New  York 
Buffalo 
Geneva 
New  York 
Niagara  Falls 
Rochester 
Saugerties 
Schenectady 
Watertown 

North  Dakota 
Grand  Forks 

Ohio 
Canton 
Cincinnati 
Columbus 
Hamilton 
Youngstown 

Pennsylvania 
Philadelphia 
Pittsburgh 
Reading 

Rhode  Island 
Newport 

West  Virginia 
Wheeling 

Wisconsin 
Kenosha 
Milwaukee 
Oshkosh 
Superior 
West  Allis 


New 
information 


In  the  hope  of  obtaining  more  information  than  we  were  able 
to  publish  last  year  regarding  the  kinds  of  activities  being  carried 
on  in  social  centers,  the  first  question  in  our  inquiry  was  devoted 
to  this  subject.  Nine  lines  of  activities  were  submitted  and  the 
superintendents  were  asked  to  enter  in  the  appropriate  spaces 
the  number  of  schools  engaged  in  each.  Because  of  the  labor 
involved,  information  was  not  requested  as  to  the  number  of  times 
a  week  such  schools  were  open  for  the  activities  with  which  they 
were  credited. 

The  lines  of  evening  activities,  not  a  part  of  night-school  work 

*  The  cities  included  in  the  above  list  reported  at  least  two  lines  of  activi- 
ties (see  classification  on  following  page).  The  following  also  reported  paid 
workers,  but  only  one  line  of  work:  Bridgeport  and  Middletown,  Conn.; 
Kokomo,  Ind.;  Methuen,  Mass.;  Winona,  Minn.;  Lincoln,  Neb. 

2 


or  limited  to  pupils,  which  were  reported,  together*  with  the  total 
number  of  buildings  hi  which  they  were  carried  on,  are  as  follows : 

Schools 

1  Public  lectures  and  entertainments  (not  school  exercises) .  .   981 

2  Adult  clubs,  societies  or  associations  (not  solely  teachers) 

meeting  in  school  rooms 706 

3  Open  meetings  for  the  adult  discussion  of  local  problems  .  .  496 

4  Athletics,  calisthenics,  indoor  active  games  or  folk  dancing  474 

5  Club  work  among  young  people 369 

6  Reading  or  quiet-games  room 198 

7  Social  dancing  for  old  or  young 190 

8  Singing  classes,  orchestras,  or  other  musical  organizations 

not  limited  to  pupils 174 

9  Handicraft  or  domestic-science  classes  not  a  part  of  evening- 

school  work 153 


Lines  of 
activity 


How  Boston  Evening  Centers  Attract  Girls 

These  results  show  the  kinds  of  evening  privileges  which  were 
afforded  in  207  cities  last  whiter.  They  tell  nothing  as  to  the 
amount  of  each  activity  in  any  of  the  buildings  included  in  these 
totals.  How  many,  for  example,  of  the  474  buildings  reporting 
athletics  had  them  only  twice  during  the  entire  season  and  how 
many  offered  this  privilege  four  tunes  a  week  is  not  known. 

The  total  number  of  workers  engaged  in  carrying  on  the  above  The  staff 
activities  cannot  be  stated.     Some  cities  said  "many,"  several  ofworkcrs 
gave  a  number  that  was  obviously  too  large,  while  others  gave  no 
figure  at  all.     The  paid  workers  reported  by  the  cities  listed  on 
page  2  totaled  1927.     A  conservative  estimate,  based  upon  such 
evidence  as  the  returns  afforded,  would  place  the  number  of  vol- 
unteer workers  at  1500.     So  that,  in  the  207  cities  reporting 

3 


305775 


The  Detroit  Corporation  Counsel  Inspiring  an  Interest  in  Civic  Affairs 


Political 
Use 


Miscella- 
neous 
occasions 


activities,  it  may  be  conjectured  that  there  were  over  3000  persons 
engaged  in  conducting  them. 

The  board  of  education  furnished  the  heat  and  light  in  167  of 
the  172  cities  which  reported  on  this  point,  and  in  142  of  these  the 
janitor  service  also  was  provided  by  the  board. 

Balloting  during  elections  was  held  in  529  schoolhouses,  and 
259  buildings  were  used  for  registering  voters. 

Political  meetings  or  rallies  to  the  number  of  481  took  place  in 
school  edifices. 

Motion  picture  entertainments  were  given  in  school  buildings 
on  626  occasions. 

The  exhibits  held  in  school  buildings  numbered  302,  of  which 
175  were  devoted  to  art  and  manual  training  subjects,  76  were 
held  in  the  interest  of  physical  welfare,  and  the  remainder  were 
of  a  miscellaneous  character. 

To  the  question  as  to  how  many  buildings  were,  by  their  patrons, 
called  "social  centers,"  "recreation  centers,"  etc.,  89  cities  re- 
plied, reporting  on  330  buildings.  The  following  table  shows  the 
number  of  schools  designated  under  the  various  names : 


Title 

Social  Centers 

Recreation  Centers 

Civic  Centers 

Social  and  Recreation  Centers 

Social  and  Civic  Centers 

Evening  Centers 

School  Centers 

Community  Centers 

Total    . 


'No.  of  schools 
..181 

89 

25 

17 

7 

4 

4 

3 

330 


It  might  be  thought  that  the  total  number  of  buildings  shown  The  number 
in  the  last  table  represented  the  number  of  school  centers  in  the  center*  not 
United  States  during  the  season  of  1912-13.     Unfortunately  this  known 
total  cannot  be  given  such  significance.     One  of  the  cities  whose 
"10  social  centers"  were  included  hi  this  number  reported,  under 
the  head  of  activities,  that  the  buildings  were  used  only  for  public 
meetings,  lectures  and  entertainments,  twice  a  month.    Another 
city's  card  showed  4  schoolhouses  affording  athletic,  reading- 
room  and  public  discussion  privileges  and  2  having  club  work,  The  reason 
social  dancing,  singing  classes  and  adult  societies,  all  the  build- 
ings being  open  five  nights  a  week,  and  yet  it  reported  no  social 
centers.    Between  these  two  extremes  there  were  many  other 
cases  exhibiting  similar  disparities  in  the  amount  of  use  and  the 
manner  of  applying  the  name  "social"  or  "recreation"  center. 


A  New  York  School  Providing  an  Evening  Environment 

5 


Defining1  a 


Current  usage  varies  so  greatly  that  neither  of  these  names  can 
be  taken  as  an  index  of  amount,  or  even  kinds,  of  activity.  This 
report,  therefore,  does  not  show  the  number  of  the  social  centers 
last  season  in  the  United  States. 

Before  an  enumeration  of  social  centers  can  be  made,  two 
social  center  things  will  have  to  be  provided:  (i)  A  definition  of  them  that  will 
serve  as  a  criterion,  and  (2)  data  corresponding  to  the  terms  of 
the  definition.  But  a  standard  center  cannot  be  set  up  arbitrarily. 
A  definition  that  would  serve  as  a  measuring  unit  must  be  based 
upon  achievements  rather  than  ideals.  Consequently  the  data 
will  have  to  be  obtained  first. 

In  attempting  to  forecast  what  facts  would  be  needed  in  for- 
mulating a  norm  two  categories,  at  least,  may  be  safely  put  for- 
ward: (i)  the  kinds  of  activities,  and  (2)  their  frequency  of  oc- 
currence. The  necessity  of  the  first  is  obvious  and  the  second 
becomes  equally  clear  when  it  is  seen  what  incongruities  would 
result  without  it.  If  frequency  were  not  regarded,  the  city  just 
mentioned  which  reported  "10  social  centers"  open  twice  a  month 
would  appear  in  the  same  class  with  a  municipality  maintaining 
^activities  six  nights  a  week — a  manifest  injustice.  The  very 
word  "center,"  in  this  connection,  implies  activity  that  not  only 
takes  place  regularly  but  also  frequently. 

If  a  daily  record  were  kept  in  each  schoolhouse  of  all  the  oc- 
casions occurring  after  6  p.m.,  information  would  soon  be  avail- 
able upon  which  a  social  center  definition  could  be  based.  Many 
buildings  enjoy  a  miscellaneous  use  which  probably  totals  larger 
than  the  school  authorities  suspect,  while  others  commonly  re- 
garded as  having  a  high  degree  of  utilization  are,  in  reality, 
comparatively  little  used.  Until  more  extensive  and  detailed 
records  are  kept  the  school  officials  themselves  will  not  be  in  a 
position  to  determine  what  degree  of  wider  use  has  been  attained 
in  their  school  plants.  Such  information,  properly  tabulated  and 
interpreted,  would  form  interesting  material  for  the  superinten- 
dent's report  and  give  the  community  a  better  idea  of  the  social 
dividends  they  were  receiving  from  their  school  investments. 

But  statistics  alone,  no  matter  how  accurate  and  definite  they 
become,  will  never  indicate  more  than  the  material  aspects  of 
social  center  activity.  To  convey  their  richer  significance,  they 
will  always  require  the  cooperation  of  the  imagination.  Ten 

6 


A  record 
of  evening: 
use  needed 


Looking: 
beyond  the 
figures 


^bare-kneed  lads,  catapulting  and  ricochetting  between'  basket- 
ball hoops,  while  tenscore  more  of  cheering,  exulting,  cat-calling 
humans  look  on;  two  dozen  bloomered  misses  stepping  and 
swaying  with  the  beat  of  a  mellow  folk  rhythm — such  scenes  as 
these  represent  an  amount  of  human  happiness  that  is  not  re- 
vealed by  an  inventory  of  the  buildings  in  which  they  are  occurring. 
One  group  of  struggling  musicians  converted  into  an  orchestra 
through  the  opportunity  to  meet  in  a  kindergarten  plus  two  Lith- 
uanian cooking  clubs  learning  American  ways  equal  a  sum  that 
is  beyond  ordinary  arithmetic. 


The  Fortnightly  Musical  Club  Entertaining  a  Cleveland  Neighborhood 

When  neighbors  meet  on  their  own  common  premises  and  talk 
over  frankly  the  service  they  are  getting  from  their  public  servants 
there  is  a  quickening  of  the  civic  pulse.  But  it  is  not  expressed  by 
the  sum  of  the  buildings  in  which  these  meetings  take  place. 

,  Centers  of  individual  growth  and  refinement,  of  civism  and 
social  integration,  that  is  what  these  places  are,  and  no  system 
of  numerals  can  ever  be  devised  that  will  convey  an  adequate 
notion  of  the  vitalizing  influences  which  radiate  from  them.  We 
can  count  them  and  classify  their  activities,  but  the  results,  if 
they  are  to  uget  over"  their  real  meaning,  must  arouse  pictures 
of  living  things  in  the  reader's  mind. 

7 


How  to  Start  Social  Centers 

(No.  Rec.125) 
By  Clarence  Arthur  Perry 

A  pamphlet  treating  in  detailed  manner  the  various  problems 
connected  with  the  initiation  of  social  center  work  in  a  com- 
munity. The  different  stages  of  development  are  fully  discussed, 
as  shown  by  the  following 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

GETTING  THE  IDEA 

Some  of  the  difficulties — The  significance  of  leadership  in  play — 
Function  of  the  social  center — What  must  be  added  to  a  school 
system — The  prime  reason  for  state-supported  schools — How  to 
impress  the  school  authorities. 

ORGANIZING  THE  PROMOTING  AGENCY 

Selecting  the  organization — Cooperating  bodies — The  federation. 

TAKING  UP  THE  MATTER  WITH  THE  SCHOOL  BOARD 

Method  of  approach — Preparation  for  and  conduct  of  the  hearing 
— Conditions  which  may  prevent  favorable  action. 

REMOVING  THE  LEGAL  OBSTACLES 

Committee  on  legislation — Drafting  the  bill — The  essential  provisions 
— Sources  of  information — Pushing  the  bill. 

CREATING  PUBLIC  SENTIMENT 

The  press  the  chief  agency — The  publicity  committee — Special 
writers — The  public  meeting — Giving  publicity  to  speeches — The 
lecturer — The  neighborhood  mass-meeting — The  church — Using 
the  motion  picture — Printed  matter — Getting  ammunition  through 
a  study  of  the  facts. 

THE  DEMONSTRATION 

A  typical  demonstration — Instructing  the  volunteers — Steps  in  getting 
up  a  demonstration — The  workers — Raising  the  money. 

ACTIVITIES  POSSIBLE  IN  THE  ORDINARY  SCHOOL  BUILDING 

In  the  classroom — Kindergarten  and  basement — Assembly  hall  and 
gymnasium — Programs — Information  about  indoor  games. 

BEGINNINGS  OF  PERMANENT  SOCIAL  CENTERS 

Actual  working  arrangements  between  boards  and  associations. 

ADAPTING  THE  SCHOOL  BUILDING 

Fixing  the  basement — Baths — The  classroom — Movable  desks — 
Getting  an  assembly  hall — Utilizing  the  attic — The  corridor. 

WHAT  A  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS  CAN  Do  TO  DEVELOP  SOCIAL  CENTERS 
WITHOUT  AN  APPROPRIATION 

A  guiding  principle — Liberal  regulations— Getting  outside  bodies 
to  use  the  building — Labor  unions — Discussion  of  community 
problems — Political  meetings — Stimulating  artistic^  culture — Or- 
ganizing public  lectures  and  entertainments — Expanding  the  regular 
school  activities — Getting  recreation  leaders — The  time  and  energy. 

APPENDICES 

A.  A  Successful  Campaign  for  a  Model  School  Building. 

B.  Essential  Provisions  of  the  New  York  State  Social  Center  Law. 

C.  Bulletin  of  Neighborhood  Activities,  Evanston,  111. 

39  PAGES  PRICE,  10  CENTS 

DEPARTMENT  OF  RECREATION 
RUSSELL    SAGE    FOUNDATION 

130  East  22nd  Street,  New  York  City 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
PAT.  JAN.  21 ,1908 


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